Trojan downloader uses Zidane lure

A different kind of viral email

Common Topics

Nefarious virus writers are using continued interest in Zinedine Zidane's infamous headbutt in the World Cup final to distribute malware via a malicious website (screen shot here) that poses as an official FIFA World Cup 2006 website.

Surfers straying on the site are exposed to a Trojan horse downloader, which uses Windows exploits in a bid to install malware on vulnerable PCs. If successful, additional malware payloads are downloaded on to victimised machines.

According to web security firm WebSense, the US-based site uses the underground "Web Attacker" toolkit, a malware package available from a Russian website at anywhere between $20 and $300.

The appearance of the site coincides with the continued circulation of humourous emails satirising Zidane's headbutt outrage.

The latest hacker attack is a "viral email" of a very different type, that illustrates, once again, how hackers frequently look to topical events in order to propel the distribution of malign code. ®